


Seven

by kurohachi



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash, Sherstrade Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 06:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3280133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurohachi/pseuds/kurohachi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Greg Lestrade met Sherlock Holmes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seven

Seven times.

 

Greg glanced subtly to a street corner, where a tall young man stood by a street light. At a glance he looked just like any other curious onlookers, trying to see what other gruesome mystery unfolded on the streets of London.

 

This was the seventh time Greg saw him on a crime scene.

 

He was never a witness, always came after the police was all there and set up, which meant he wasn't near the crime scene when it happened. (Unless he left and returned after the police arrived, but why would he return at all?). He always had a different coat on, although Greg noticed this was the second time he wore this black coat.

 

Greg wouldn't have noticed if all the crimes happened in a crowded place like the current case, but in the first, third, fourth and sixth case there were only a handful of people around and the man stood out with his sharp eyes and slender grace. Most innocent bystanders he saw always had an expression of curiosity, worry, pity, horror or disgust. The man always looked calm and calculating, like he was dissecting the scene before him. 

 

After the sixth case, a murder by a small deli five days ago, Greg looked through all the cases where he saw the man and tried to find a connection. There was none -- the first and third case were a robbery, the second was a kidnapping, fourth until seventh were murder. At first Greg thought the man was a suspect, but it seemed unlikely given that all the perpetrators for all six cases have been caught thanks to anonymous tips. 

 

The man's eyes met his and Greg startled. Then he did something Greg never expected -- he ran.

 

So Greg gave chase.

 

He ignored the surprised cries from the pedestrians and the calls from his officers as he chased the man running through a network of alleys, coat billowing dramatically behind him. 

 

"Stop! Police!" Greg cried, but of course that has never stopped anyone. 

 

After five left turns and three right Greg finally had enough and tackled the man, and both of them went down with a grunt.

 

The man was skinnier than Greg had originally thought, the coat adding most of the bulk. He turned the man around by the lapels of his coat and studied him. He had sharp piercing blue eyes and high cheek bones, and his hair was dark and unruly.

 

"Good day, officer." His voice was deep with a hint of mocking "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

 

"You fled a crime scene. Can't get anymore suspicious than that." Greg said, a touch defensively.

 

He clicked his tongue, annoyed. "As usual, you see but you don't observe. No wonder you lot never solve anything."

 

Greg bristled at that. "And you're just a master of observation, aren't you? Saw you in seven cases already, I want to know your involvement."

 

That seemed to pique the man's interest. "Really now? Seven?" He seemed to be thinking about something before continuing "As lovely as this is, having you on top of me in a dank alley, I much prefer if we do this conversation without me lying here with alley water seeping through my coat. It's really quite disgusting."

 

Greg thought about it for a moment, calculating the risk of a suspect fleeing the moment he let him up. 

 

He sighed "I'm not going to run this time." 

 

There was something intriguing about the man and Greg's curiosity won over. Greg finally stepped away from him, lending a hand to help him up.

 

"Now," he smiled as he brushed the dust off himself and offered a hand "Sherlock Holmes."

 

Greg reluctantly shook it "Greg Lestrade."

 

"Yes, I know." He replied, smiling wider. 

 

"How did...?" He trailed off when he saw the man, Sherlock, flashing his police badge with a Cheshire grin. He immediately went to check and sure enough, his badge was missing. 

 

"Give that back." He demanded. Sherlock complied, although he rolled his eyes like a petulant teenager.

 

"The murder you're investigating," Sherlock said, "It's premeditated, but sloppy. Not terribly interesting, I'm afraid. Just a little bit of... Familial struggles. You may want to question the brother. I think you will find his alibi a touch flimsy. The victim's wife will attempt to protect him, but they're having an affair so... Oh would you look at that, that sounds like a motive." He finished with another Cheshire grin.

 

Greg immediately closed his mouth which he didn't realize was hanging open. 

 

"If that's all, detective. It was very nice to meet you. I'm impressed that you marked me seven times though, perhaps the MET is not completely hopeless after all." Sherlock said, before turning around for his dramatic exit.

 

Greg caught his hand before he could leave and Sherlock turned obediently, waiting.

 

"You're the anonymous tipper."

 

Sherlock paused before giving him another big smile. "Very good, Lestrade. Now you're using your head."

 

___

 

 

Greg was alone in his office, finishing up on the McCullen murder case that he just solved thanks to the 'anonymous tip'. It was quite a high profile murder case given that the victim held a position in the government. His superior officer had been impressed with him, promising him a promotion in a not so far future. 

 

He saved the last document and printed it out, gave it a once over and placed it on his desk for someone to file in the morning. He sat back on his chair and sighed, rubbing his eyes. A glance at the clock on the wall told him it was almost nine. He moved to shut down his computer.

 

Out of curiosity, he ended up looking up Sherlock Holmes instead. His records were clean, almost too clean. When he started digging a little deeper, he found that some of the records regarding Sherlock Holmes was sealed by someone with a very high clearance.

 

His internet search lead him to a blog about 214 kinds of tobacco ash.

 

He skimmed through it, reading the man's analysis, finding it both hilarious and intriguing. This man was something else.

 

Of course that much was obvious.

 

Suddenly, his phone beeped. A text.

 

Congratulations. -SH

 

SH? Sherlock Holmes? Greg's eyebrow knit in confusion. This can't be a mere coincidence... Can it?

 

How did you get this number? And congratulations for what? 

 

For your upcoming promotion, of course. I got your number when I pickpocket your badge. I had a little peek at your phone. -SH

 

Oh cheers for that.

 

Greg didn't bother asking him how he knew about his promotion. Probably the same way he knew the murderer was the victim's brother.

 

Thanks for the tip, by the way.

 

You're welcome. -SH

 

His reply came after a short pause, but Greg didn't think much of it. He pondered if he should reply. He was intrigued by him and would like to speak with him some more, but that sounded like the end of a conversation right there. Before he could decide, another text from Sherlock arrived.

 

Perhaps you can thank me by buying me coffee. -SH

 

Greg couldn't help but laugh to himself. Was he asking this old man out? He didn't dare ask. He thought about it for a while. His eyes lingered on the website in front of him. The Art of Deduction, huh?

 

Well, he did want to talk to the man some more. 

 

Sure.

 

Not a second later, his phone beeped with a time and location. Greg realized Sherlock already expected him to accept.

 

Speedy's on Baker Street. Saturday, 5PM -SH

 

 

___

 

 

Two months, three cases and one rehabilitation later, Sherlock Holmes became the unofficial consultant for the Metropolitan police.

 

Five months and numerous cases after that, Sherlock Holmes became the unofficial flatmate of Gregory Lestrade.

 

Seven months after their first case, Greg kissed him for the first time and Sherlock Holmes became the official... something, of Gregory Lestrade.

 

When John Watson asked them about it, many years later, they couldn't agree on it. Sherlock claimed that their first case was the very first case where he sent an anonymous tip to Greg. Greg insisted that their first case was the one in which they actually worked together, after he actually knew Sherlock enough to let him poke around the crime scene. It was a silly thing to argue about, and everybody in the room knew it (Mrs Hudson thought it was rather sweet). It didn't matter anyway because both Greg and Sherlock didn't care much about anniversaries, but they had good drink and good company, which seem to call for a bit of fond reminiscing.

 

"Why did you run?" John asked, when there was a lull in the story "When Greg saw you, I mean."

 

Sherlock sipped his scotch as he leaned back to Greg's side, seemingly giving the question some thought. 

 

"I wanted to see if he would chase me."

 

__


End file.
